Iranian Revolution

The Iranian Revolution (7 January 1978-11 February 1979), also known as the Islamic Revolution, was a series of events that led to the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, by various leftist and Islamist organizations and student movements. The Shah was an autocratic and fascist ruler who was infamous for his excesses, for his secularism and pro-West sentiment, and for using the SAVAK secret police to torture and execute opponents of his regime. In 1977, the deaths of opposition figures Ali Shariati and Mostafa Khomeini led to protests by both secular leftists and Islamists in Iran, as they accused the government of assassinating them. Mostafa's father, the exiled cleric Ruhollah Khomeini, became the spiritual leader of the revolution while he was in exile in Paris, France, and demonstrations broke out in major cities in January 1978 in opposition to the Shah's cruelty. On 29 March, demonstrations broke out in at least 55 cities, including the capital of Tehran, and the protests turned into deadly riots as the gendarmes and soldiers opened fire on protesters. From August to December 1978, strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country, and the Shah went into exile on 16 January 1979, seeking medical treatment in the United States after it was discovered that he had cancer. Ayatollah Khomeini was invited to return to Iran, and he was greeted by millions of people after returning to Tehran. On 11 February, armed guerrillas overwhelmed the last Shahist troops, bringing Khomeini to power. On 1 April 1979, Iran officially became an Islamic republic, approving a theocratic-republican constitution. Between 532 and 60,000 people were killed in demonstrations from 1978 to 1979, and Iran would become a stauncly anti-Western, Shia Muslim theocratic, and anti-American country, with anger at the USA's backing of the Shah culimating in the Iran hostage crisis in November.